MM3rdQB: Ford ownership of Lions is one of NFL's longest but least valuable tenures

The Lions' thrilling 27-24 victory over the Chicago Bears at wind-swept Soldier Field on Sunday represented a meeting between two of the oldest NFL ownership families — literally.

Martha Firestone Ford — granddaughter of rubber titan Harvey Firestone and married in 1947 into the Ford automotive dynasty — is 92 and has been majority owner of the Lions since husband William Clay Ford Sr. died at age 88 in 2014. He bought majority ownership for $4.5 million from a consortium in November 1963, taking control in January 1964.

Martha Ford is the league's third-oldest owner, but has the third-shortest tenure of personal control. The oldest owner is Virginia Halas McCaskey, who is 94. She inherited the Bears in 1983 when her father, team founder George Halas, died at age 88. He paid $100 to join the newly founded NFL in 1920. McCaskey owns 80 percent of the team, and her family's estimated $1 billion-plus worth is derived from ownership of the Bears rather than another industry.

Martha Ford

The NFL owner between Ford and McCaskey in age is Los Angles Chargers owner Alex Spanos, who is 94. He bought his club in 1984.

While Martha Ford is in just her third year as majority owner, the Ford family has the NFL's sixth-longest family ownership tenure. The only teams with longer family ownership are the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs.

The Fords and Lions trail them when it comes to team value. Forbes most recently estimated the Lions to be worth $1.7 billion, the second-lowest value after the Buffalo Bills ($1.6 billion) in the 32-team league. Forbes values the Bears at $2.85 billion (seventh). That's a $1.15 billion difference from the Lions.

Here's how the Lions and Fords stack up against the NFL ownership that predates them:

John Mara, who owns half of the New York Giants, is grandson of Tim Mara, who founded the team in 1925. Forbes values the team at $3.3 billion.

Art Rooney II, 65, is the third-generation owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. His grandfather Art Rooney II founded the team in 1933. Forbes values the franchise at $2.45 billion.

Bill Bidwell assumed co-ownership of the Arizona Cardinals in 1962, when the team was still the St. Louis Cardinals, after his mother's death that year. He bought out his brother in 1972. The team is worth $2.15 billion, according to Forbes.

Clark Hunt inherited his co-ownership of the Kansas City Chiefs after the death of his businessman father Lamar Hunt in 2006. Lamar Hunt founded the team as the Dallas Texans as an inaugural member of the American Football League in 1960. They moved to Missouri in 1963 and became the Chiefs. Forbes values the club at $2.1 billion.

There's one more team that has a longer ownership than the Fords, but it's an outlier: The Green Bay Packers have been a publicly owned, nonprofit corporation since 1923, and are run by seven-member committee that elects from its ranks a president. The team's valued by Forbes at $2.55 billion.